Lucas Bell 
The eighth-generation Chevrolet Corvette is one of the most hyped and over-analyzed vehicles to ever hit the market. The automotive media has scoured over every detail that relates to the mid-engined sports car, long before the dramatically transformed Corvette was even unveiled. Now that the C8 Corvette has landed (sort of) and found itself in the hands of the automotive press, everyone’s collective focus has shifted to the upcoming C8 Corvette Z06.
At this point there is not a lot of information available about what Chevrolet is planning for the upcoming high performance ‘Vette, but thanks to images found on CNET’s Roadshow, we might have an idea what the interior will look like. The images were provided to the outlet by Chevrolet, detailing the design process of the C8, including one clearly showing the Z06 badge. This interior sketch bears a lot of resemblance to the production C8 Corvette Stingray’s interior, though the squared-off steering wheel reads Z06 at the bottom. Just below the airbag there is a red button that reads “Spec Mode”, but there is no official word as to what this button will do or if it will even exist at all.
Inside the familiar looking gauge cluster there are also a few other interesting tidbits. The famous Mugello Circuit in Tuscany, Italy is featured on the right of the gauge cluster, perhaps to show the racy intentions of the Corvette Z06, or perhaps previews future Performance Data Recorder technology. The acronym “ARM” (GM’s term for Active Rev Matching in manual transmission performance cars) also appears to be selected in the gauge cluster, though again this could just be an artistic liberty more than a representation of a feature, as there will not be a manual transmission in any C8 variant.
As we have reported for quite sometime now, the C8 Corvette Z06 supercar is going to carry a flat-plane crank V8 engine behind the driver, almost certainly a modified version of the 5.5L flat plane DOHC V8 found in the C8.R race car. The race-spec motor produces 500 hp and 480 ft.-lb. of torque, figures that the Z06 should easily eclipse free of FIA regulations. We expect output to be in the 600 horsepower range, leaving plenty of room for an even hotter version of the Corvette to come.
While this interior sketch is just a drawing, the fact that it looks so much like the production interior we already know does make it a bit more interesting. For now we’ll have to keep digging for information about the C8 Corvette Z06.
